Nicholas Menelaus MacLeod was born in Quebec, Canada. He was Canadian Champion in 1886 (scored 6/8 at Quebec) and 1888 (after play-off; James Ephraim Narraway & Edwin Pope also tied at 4/5), and won the Western Championship in 1901. He passed away in Spokane, USA in 1965.

Whitehat1963: This guy got buried by an 18th century who's who of chess. And his (almost always losing) pet opening of 1. e4, e5 2. c3 should be named the "MacLeod Opening" ... not that I'd recommend it to anyone. But hey, Steinitz lauded his ending play in this game: N MacLeod vs Gossip, 1889 ... but only after he through in several question marks leading up to an ending that plays like a puzzle. Does anyone know anything about this guy?

tpstar: <InfinityCircuit> Annotating your games (wins and losses) is a surefire way to improve. You have all the time in the world to analyze different lines for both sides, plus you discover exactly when your opening book runs out. In his case, he was World Champion for years, so it served a double purpose in helping prepare for those same opponents in the future. Try annotating one of your games and see how much you learn. Good luck.

Resignation Trap: <InfinityCircuit> Steinitz edited the book to this tournament, that's why his notes appear here. By the way, has anyone else ever lost 31 games in a single tournament? I don't think so.

gauer: Compare Nick's age to his opposition, many others at least ~5+ years older than the upcoming 19 year-old Cdn. star for this 30+ round veteran tournament of New York 1889, used as a Challenger selection vs a future match with Steinitz.

http://web.ncf.ca/bw998/canchess.html details some other info:
Tied for first in Cdn. Championship., 1887;
Youngest ever Cdn. Champ., just past 16th birthday in 1886 & also later Cdn. Champ., 1888;
Only player to beat Em. Lasker in simul. exhibit, Quebec 1892;
Minnesota Champion 1899;
Won 2nd Western Chess Association Tournament (later called U.S. Open) 1901.

By coincidence, another Nick, Nikolay Noritsyn , is also scoring well in the Cdn. Championships, also age 16.

Phony Benoni: To compensate for the lack of wins, here's a description of MacLeod's style published in the St. Paul Dispatch following his victory at the 1901 Western Championship:

<"MacLeod plays chess on a plane peculiarly his own. His games are. therefore, to be criticised not from the standpoint of the hand book, but from the principles laid down by Young, which is known as synthetical chess. That is to say, each move is made from a base of operation that brings all pieces into immediate play with the least possible waste of time, while at the same time protecting that base about the king in the best formative manner. In doing this, the opponent wonders at the beginning of the game what kind of man is entrenched on the other side of the board. He becomes more or less wary as he notices that MacLeod is fortifying a weak point here and there. Then he commences to send his scouts further out and the report comes in that MacLeod's forces are sleeping on their arms. Then he sounds the bugle, for a grand charge on the left wing. He deploys all of his doughty knights in the skirmish. There is more or less blood shed. But the line ahead is as strong as adamant. But he has forgotten his right wing, now unsupported; he sees the clouds of battle gather on that fatal weak point. He seeks to recall his scattered army, but too late. The sleepy warrior pours a deadly broadside on the unsupported infantry and we gracefully capitulate.">

Sounds more like Nimzowitsch or Petrosian. And he appears to have followed the theories of Franklin K. Young, who may yet turn out to have been the Father of Modern Chess.

LIFE Master AJ: I had a Navy (candidate) Pilot student some 20+ years ago.

We went to the Toronto Open, (early 1990's - the pilot's grand-parents were from that area); I did not get to play, as I got the flu the week before the tournament.

I do remember meeting a very young man, he was around 10 years old. His great (or great-great) Grand-father was none other than "McCloud" who was the Canadian Champ some 100 years previously.

Must have been this guy they were talking about, amazing how some details stick in your head. (I think Dennis Weaver wore a cowboy hat and used to play a character of the same name on TV ... I doubt if anyone hear remembers that show. ---> That used to be one of my favorite TV shows!)

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